Historical Events of May 8
8 May
** 1778 – birth of Johann Baptist Gänsbacher (Sterzing, Tyrol, Austria) d.1844
cellist, Choirmaster at St. Stephen’s Cathedral Vienna. The father of Josef, a singer-cellist. He was a great friend of both Weber and Meyerbeer.
** 1790 - The Diary, or Woodfall's Register (8th May 1790) wrote: “Handel's marking ‘Violoncello ad libitum’ presented Cervetto with the kind of occasion when, by means of improvisation, his talent could shine even in adverse circumstances” … an interesting insight to performance practice of the time!
** 1820 - English cellist Robert Lindley played with his son, and the double bassist Dragonetti, a trio sonata of Corelli (London)
** 1862 – in an orchestral concert at the New Town Theatre [Novoměstské divadlo], Prague, the Estates Theatre orchestra conducted by Vilém Jahn invited David Popper as invited cello soloist. He chose to play his own Concertstück [which was none other than the first movement of his Cello Concerto No.2]
** 1886 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Miss Annie Marriott, Miss Edith Marriott, Madame Trebelli, Mr William Winch and Mr Frederick King (vocal), with ‘Master Schrattenholz’ (cello) and Miss Fanny Davies (piano).
** 1904 - birth of Marthe Delcellier (Laval, France) d.1998
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based in Canada}
** 1911 - Dr. Serge Barjansky performed as invited cello soloist in a concert with the London Symphony Orchestra
** 1924 - first official British performance of Kodaly - Solo Cello Sonata, Op.8
soloist - Beatrice Harrison (Aeolian Hall, London) {she had given a pre-performance in February of same year in a contemporary music centre concert in London}
** 1945 - World War II ends in Europe:
Violinist Yehudi Menuhin was said to have been able to arrive to Moscow and visit Gregor Piatigorsky's father, who hadn't seen his son since 1921 and who suffered greatly during the war. Even though Piatigorsky sent letters and parcels, his family did not receive more than a few.
** 1947 – on this day the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s management held a meeting in which it discussed cellist Friedrich Buxbaum’s rather difficult situation in London and eventually came to the decision to support the musician by offering him a fixed-term position in the State Opera (1 year) at the end of which he would be entitled to retire and receive full pension, i.e. "ein Ehrenjahr in der Oper zuzubilligen, damit er nach Ablauf dieser Frist mit vollen Bezügen in Pension gehen kann“. However, Buxbaum was never to return to Vienna, and passed away shortly afterwards.
** 1950 - first performance of Ginastera - Pampeana No.2, Op.21
Aurora Nátola/cello and ?/piano (Buenos Aires)
** 1971 - first performance of Isang Yun - Glisées for cello
(Zagreb, Croatia)
** 1984 - first performance of Liebermann - Concertino for Violoncello and Chamber Orchestra Op.8, with Bonnie Thron, solo cello with the Juilliard Ensemble; Lowell Liebermann, conductor (New York)
** 1992 - birth of Olivia Culpo (Rhode Island, U.S.A.)
American actress, television presenter, cellist (+ vocalist) and beauty queen!
** 1995 - first performance of Elliott Carter - Figment for cello
(New York)
** 1997 – on the 8th, 9th and 10th of this month, cellist Truls Mork performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Welser-Möst), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1998 – from the 8th till the 10th May, 1998, cellist Maria Kliegel was immersed in recordings of the music of Eduoard Lalo; his Cello Concerto in D minor (1887), the Sonata for Cello and Piano (1856) and the Chants Russes again for cello and piano, taking place between Budapest and Sandhausen.
